Dick Cheney Authorized Classified Leaks
09 February 2006 11:37 am by Taylor Marsh
Dick Cheney Authorized Classified Leaks
Do we need any more proof that Dick Cheney's the graveyard master, knowing
where all the secrets are buried? Gonzales said it last night, that Cheney
is more of an expert on NSA warrantless wiretaps, knows more that he does
and he's the attorney general. Well, if we did, Murray Waas just offered more.
Vice President Dick Cheney's former chief
of staff, I. Lewis (Scooter) Libby, testified to a federal grand jury that
he had been "authorized" by Cheney and other White House "superiors"
in the summer of 2003 to disclose classified information to journalists to
defend the Bush administration's use of prewar intelligence in making the
case to go to war with Iraq, according to attorneys familiar with the matter,
and to court records.
Cheney
"Authorized" Libby to Leak Classified Information
In the above report, Waas says Libby was actually authorized
to leak highly classified National Intelligence Estimate information, and
none other than Dick Cheney authorized him to do it.
Here's the moment where we reflect on what would happen if during
Clinton's administration, Al Gore would have done the same. Picture it…
see it… now hear Sean and Rush go wild.
Now, let's look into the future to Libby's defense.
Beyond what was stated in the court paper,
say people with firsthand knowledge of the matter, Libby also indicated what
he will offer as a broad defense during his upcoming criminal trial: that
Vice President Cheney and other senior Bush administration officials had earlier
encouraged and authorized him to share classified information with journalists
to build public support for going to war. Later, after the war began in 2003,
Cheney authorized Libby to release additional classified information, including
details of the NIE, to defend the administration's use of prewar intelligence
in making the case for war. Waas
The obvious reason Dick and other senior Bushies encouraged
Libby was to rebut Joseph Wilson's damaging claim that Bush's Niger claim
was nuts. Libby specifically states that he was authorized to leak the information.
But who were those other senior White House officials? Libby worked closely
with Stephen Hadley and Karl Rove, but also was determined to leak this information
through Judy Miller. It seems to offer further proof that Libby was lying
to the grand jury and the FBI when he said he hadn't discussed Plame, when
he did talk about her CIA assignments.
So much for Libby's I was just gossiping b.s.
But the bottom line is that it further draws out Dick Cheney's
involvement behind the scenes and the machinations going on to thwart the
public's interest to know the truth and what our president was doing behind
our back. Again I refer to Gonzales' comment about Cheney being an expert
on the NSA illegal wiretapping.
Dick Cheney is the president's puppet master. There's just no
other way to look at it. So, taking it to the logical next step, what gives the Office of the Vice President and Dick Cheney the authority to leak classified information? The next question is who gave him that authority? There is only one answer left.
